Parents Of Niners QB Colin Kaepernik Talk To CBS13

One local family will watch the NFC Championship Sunday not just as fans, but as nervous parents. We went to Turlock where the parents of rookie Colin Kaepernick are expecting a win.

“I gotta tell you he can really throw it,” said Colin’s father Rick.

Colin is a six-foot-four, 230-pound NFL quarterback. But to Rick and Teresa, he is also their baby.

“Oh, you’re pretty proud first of all. You’re a proud parent,” said Rick.

Colin Kaepernick is from Turlock’s Pitman High. His parents have kept all his mementos

“This is his senior bowl jersey,” said Rick, pulling the jerseys from Colin’s closet.

He went to university of Nevada Reno. Now he’s the Niners backup quarterback behind Alex Smith. He led the Niners 90 yards on a touchdown drive against the Buccaneers — one of his few opportunities on the field this year.

If Smith gets one hard knock taking him out of the game, it would be Kaepernick getting the call.

“He’s ready for that. He’s been training, you know, for months now. He’s ready to go for that,” said Teresa. “Whether Rick and I are ready for that, I don’t know.”

Teresa and Rick adopted Colin after two of their biological children died from a genetic disorder.

“It’s interesting because when he was in 2nd or 3rd grade he made a picture of our family, we were all white and he was brown, so he knew, but it didn’t matter why he was different,” said Rick.

Now on the verge of a championship season, Colin has given his parents a rare ride to the NFL post season.

“I just think getting to know the other Niners players and their families. That’s been really a lot of fun. You just see they’re just kids, they grow up and it’s fun being around that,” said.

A Super Bowl would be nice, and Teresa has her own special request if Colin decides to add to the tattoos on his arms.

“I do tease him if you get any more of those, one of them better be a heart with ‘mom’ in it,” said Teresa.

Despite the big NFL contract, mom and dad say he hasn’t bought that big ticket purchase — just a lot of hats and shoes. He’s still driving his college car.

Despite living in Northern California, Colin actually grew up a Packers fan because his family is from Wisconsin. Despite that, Rick and Teresa say rooting for the 49ers this year has been easy.